Buy, Demolish, and Rebuild a Duplex near College Town

[Sergio Rodriguez]

Hello all,

I found this great property on sale near a college (great area to rent out to students). It is a duplex with probably a quarter acre to it. The only thing though is that the 2 units are a 2/1 and he building is very old and looks like it would topple down if I pushed it hard enough. 

I'm contacting the owner tomorrow about the property to get more information. Now ideally I would like to buy and hold and lease it out. But in this case the expenses of buying and rebuilding seem to be drastic and I'd like to see my money back in my pocket. Homes sale quick around here. 

My question is (1) if I wanted to buy and then rebuild, what should the proper steps be before putting an offer on the duplex. Should I get an estimate from a home builder, see the zoning codes for the area, etc? There are lots of things to do but with buyers in the market, I need to act fast to determine what I should do quick. 

(2) What would the ideal strategy be in this situation, buy and hold or sale after building is complete? Your thoughts?

Thanks all!

[Mark Mathews]

With regard to the ideal strategy, I'm going through the same thing, trying to decide which strategy I will work on.

My suggestion is, before you do anything, choose what real estate investment strategy you want to get into. Then, educate yourself about that strategy before jumping in, only to find out that you don't know what you're dong. When you know enough about the strategy, you'll be able to do the calculations yourself to know if it's a good deal.

It's better to let a good deal pass, than get caught in a bad deal and get set back several years in your investing.

Then, always have more than one exit strategy, if possible.

Hope that makes sense.